Central Final: Carolina Hurricanes vs Tampa Bay Lightning

[Feenom]

Unless he can keep up that level of play I can't see the Canes going too far.

Looked very average on some goals. Needs to step it up again or else...

[tweetdrivr]

I’m guessing they go back to Nedeljkovic.

[berni67]

TB dominates OT but a bad kucherov penalty and Canes take advantage. Mrazek had a good game.

Not the one last night….

[hockeyrobot]

Great season for the Canes....but Tampa is just on another level.

[PenguinHunter]

Tampa is just so good...and Carolina didn't do as well against Nashville as many expected.

I vote Tampa in 5.

Nailed it!!!

[Invictus]

As expected. Carolina should be pretty happy with their season.

[Feenom]

Great season for the Canes....but Tampa is just on another level.

Yea TB was just too good. I thought the Canes might have brought this to 7 but Bolts are too damn good.

[kovalchuk17]

Carolina has a great team and a bright future. That being said, after a cinderella run to the final 4 a couple years ago this is b2b seasons of round 2 and out and some cheaper contracts have run out.

Carolina has Svechnikov and Hamilton thatll need new big deals. They must find a solution for Jake Gardiner if they arent going to play him. To me Carolina's best chance of taking the next step is Svechnikov being a ppg power forward as hes now crossing the 200 gp threshold.

[2014olympicgold]

I really like Carolina, but this is where the big step needs to be taken. The teams in the same tier as the Leafs where they are good, show they can be great, but aren't as good as the real teams. (I said tier guys, don't go freaking out over small things).

Some positives in their cap situation.
- Mrazek/Reimer both won't be paid. And Ned will likely be given that larger role
- Semin's buyout of 2.33mill is off the books
- Marleau's buyout is gone from their books (no cap penalty)
- Necas broke out and is on his rookie deal for 1 more season
- Aho's deal for salary is lowering each yr (kind of an issue with other deals though lol)

They are still in a good spot, but this is a big crossroads for the team. The coach is asking for large paydays across his staff, they have some cap/money issues with Gardiner, Svech is another RFA looking to get paid.

Tampa's just built different than teams. Too strong.

[Rato]

As happened in the first round against the Panthers, I think the biggest difference between these two teams was experience and mentality. Canes are good, if you look through the second period of game 6 Tampa could barely get the puck out of their defensive zone and allowed 4 goals in a matter of minutes, but the Bolts now very strong playing through adversity, there is no display of frustration like you could see some years back. That combined with some foolish and bad timed penalties sealed Carolina's fate.